Sunday, December 23, 2012

Peace on earth...

Image by Yuya Horikawa, Kinkaju-ji Temple, Kyoto
 
The evening bell, solemn and bronze, sounds dimly in the melted
snow... slow beat of the mountain's heart perhaps.  Bell, mountain,
tree... symbol of quiet strength.  All seeking in this place.
All finding in this place... hidden but open to all...
peace.
 
Here are some images of my Christmas decor in my home this year.  I love naturals -- and have been collecting Santas for years.
 
xmas naturals added to my rock collections
 
basket of naturals with wrapped boxes
 
 
more wrapped boxes with fossils and naturals
 
 
Father Christmas, hand made by me
 
Another Father Christmas, hand made by me
 
My 9 foot tree decorated with Santas, bird nests, birds, natural balls, wrapped boxes
 
A new addition-- birched wrapped candle- hand made by me
 
Another birch wrapped candle
 
More birch wrapped candles
 
Leslie Avon Miller came for a visit and brought me this wonderful box of hand made gifts and naturals
Thank you Leslie... a very good friend.
 
My fireplace mantel  
 
We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.
Speak or act with a pure mind 
And happiness will follow you
My wish for you in the new year...  happiness, peace,
light   
 


Monday, December 3, 2012

The Poetics of Silence

Donna Watson, 8"x8" collage
"Have you ever heard the wonderful silence just before the dawn?  Or the quiet and calm just as a storm ends.... or the hush of a country road at night, or the expectant pause of a room full of people when someone is just about to speak...Norton Jester
uploaded by miichan at Flickr.com here
 
Behind all creation is silence.
Silence is the essential condition, 
the vital ingredient for all creation and all that is created.
It is power in its own right.
The artist starts with a blank canvas - silence.
The composer places it between and behind the notes.
The very ground of your being, 
Out of which comes all your thoughts 
is silence.  --- Theresa Lasichak
uploaded by Nora Louise at Pinterest.com here
 
The most wonderful silence is when snow is falling.  Sounds become muted.  Even the birds seem to be quietly waiting.  A moon-lit night is silent beauty.

October Moon, by Sarah Gillespie, more of her work found here

A wealth you cannot imagine 
flows through you.
Do not consider what strangers say.
Be secluded in your secret heart-house,
that bowl of silence.
Talking, no matter how humble-seeming,
is really a kind of bragging.
Let silence be the art you practice.
--- Rumi:  Bridge to the Soul

     Momoyama, uploaded by Michael Chandler, at Flickr found here  

It all happens in silence.  The way
light happens in the eye.
Love unites bodies.
They go on
filling each other with silence.
--- James Sabines, Pieces of Shadow

  Jo Van Rijckeghem

Sometimes a quiet piece of art can be achieved with subdued colors and minimal shapes.   Looking at art like this can be a place of refuge... of rest.

 uploaded by tokyo sanpopo at tumblr.com found here  

Elegance
All that is cared for.
Left alone in the stillness
in that pure silence married
to the stillness of nature.
--- Linda Gregg

   Akhra Ajinja

uploaded by Yubo Mojao at Flickr, here

The way to silence is through meditation.
When you arrive in your own silence
You will know true freedom and real power.
Stop, take a minute,
and listen to the silence within you today
Theresa Lasichak, found at Flickr here 

Quail eggs in a Japanese bowl by Sarah Gillespie
    
come to my quietness
I shall cover you with it, like
a white sheet that has blown all day in 
the sun, like a mountain lake
filled with spring, it shall slip over you.
--- Diane di Prima